Ben Brode Leaving Blizzard

Ben Brode, current Game Director for Hearthstone, has announced that he is leaving Blizzard to embark on a new journey. His early worked involved QA testing WC3 and Warcraft! Best of luck on your future projects.\r\r\rFrom the official Blizzard Press Site:\rBrode joined Blizzard Entertainment in 2003, and joined the Hearthstone team in 2008 as an Associate Game Designer. He has worn a lot of hats in his time on the team; everything from client engineer to cropping and color-correcting card illustrations. Brode was responsible for the initial design of cards and missions, starting with Curse of Naxxramas, up through Whispers of the Old Gods. Brode took over as Lead Designer (and eventually Game Director) in 2016. \r\rBrode\u2019s early roles at Blizzard include stints in Quality Assurance, Production, working on licensed products, and performing as the Voice of BlizzCon. \r\rIn his free time, Brode likes to rap about Hearthstone.\r\rBen Brode has various references in World of Warcraft, having worked on the game several expansions ago:\r\rBenjamin Brode - Flannel shirt human NPC that sells Hearthstone toys.\rRemington Brode - NPC that lets you get Grizzly Hills music.\rTomo del Perduto- Flavor text references him (confirmed via Twitter)\rBen dalla Voce Tonante - Fishing panda with red flannel shirt\r\rAnnouncement\r\rA message from Ben Brode\r\rTo my friends, coworkers, and the Hearthstone community,\r\rAfter 15 years at Blizzard and almost 10 years working on Hearthstone, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to embark on a new journey.\r\rMan, that was a hard sentence to type.\r\rI was 20 years old when I started here. My first role was \u2018Night Crew Game Tester.\u2019\r\rSince then, Blizzard has been good to me. I got to cast esports events, announce BlizzCons, play in Rock Bands, write raps, and work with incredible people. But the biggest opportunity came in 2008 when I joined \u201cTeam 5.\u201d The Hearthstone Team.\r\rI am very proud of Hearthstone. I think we made an impact on the industry. People tell me that Hearthstone brought their family closer together, or that they became close friends with people they met at a Fireside Gathering. Others tell me they were inspired by Hearthstone to become game developers themselves. It\u2019s incredible to be a part of something that touches so many people.\r\rBut as proud as I am of Hearthstone, I am even more proud of the team.\r\rThere is no team like the Hearthstone team. People have come and gone over the 10 years Hearthstone has been in development, but there\u2019s something special about the Soul of the Team. We knew our most important product wasn\u2019t the game, but the team itself. A great team can do great things, and I think the Hearthstone team is the greatest. It isn\u2019t just a job. It\u2019s a shared passion. We get to come to work and focus on the game we love and try to make it better every day.\r\rWe frequently check the Hearthstone subreddit looking for opportunities to improve the game. I have loved the silly memes, engaging in spirited debates, or even just being held accountable to our shared high standards for the game. We try to be highly available on social media, and I think our team helped push the envelope in this regard. It has been especially satisfying to me to see the team step up over the last few years and help engage in these ways as I became more focused on direction and less on actual design.\r\rI get too much credit by virtue of being a public face, but the 80+ people on the development team are still there, and they are the ones actually making the cards, brawls, events, missions, and features. I am confident the game is in the best possible hands, and I\u2019m excited to see where a new generation of leaders takes Hearthstone from here.\r\rI am very fortunate to be able to take a crazy risk right now in my life, and I\u2019m excited to be scrappy and a little scared. I\u2019m going to help start a new company. We\u2019ll probably make games, but we haven\u2019t figured anything else out, yet. I\u2019m looking forward to designing, programming, and actually creating things again. I\u2019m going to miss the on-campus Starbucks, though. Dang.\r\rBlizzard, thank you for taking a chance on me, and thank you for taking a chance on Hearthstone. I can\u2019t wait to see what you do next.\r\rAnd to the passionate community of players \u2013 I will miss you, and the laughs we shared together. Thank you for making being a part of Hearthstone so much fun for me. I\u2019ve loved every minute.\r\rSincerely,\r\rBen Brode\r

Commenti

Commento di ch4ndy

Sad, but happy news for Ben. Best of luck to him in the future, will missing seeing his face in relation to Hearthstone!

Commento di Shadowfrogi

on 2018-04-20T12:15:45-05:00

feelsbrodeman

Commento di xenolithix

on 2018-04-20T12:21:02-05:00

Always a bit of a pang to see a familiar face leave Blizzard, but all the best to Ben and his future endeavors!

Commento di Lilak

on 2018-04-20T12:24:37-05:00

I'm going to miss his laughs...

Commento di bass679

on 2018-04-20T12:24:47-05:00

Good for him but man, he's totally the face of Hearthstone. Not quite the level of Chris Metzen leaving WoW but yeah. Wish him all the best but he will be missed

Commento di TradeprinceKhan

on 2018-04-20T12:25:21-05:00

Why do I even play hearthstone now?

Commento di apedosmil

on 2018-04-20T12:30:33-05:00

I haven't played Hearthstone in awhile, but still liked watching the videos with Ben Brode in them. He's larger than life. Fun dude. I wish him well.

Commento di Beatrixacs300

on 2018-04-20T12:37:00-05:00

This took me by surprise more than Wenger leaving Arsenal... Ben was like that one stable thing I always knew it is there in Blizzard, caring about the community. Who will parade in flannel shirts now? Who will do Hearthstone raps now? And I will miss the most the laughter. Oh that laughter... Farewell, Ben. And best of luck to the future.

Commento di angeleyed

on 2018-04-20T12:39:05-05:00

Suddenly I feel sad. I never met him irl, but known him through his blizzard videos and hearthstone announcements (love his laughter). Why is he leaving the blizzard family so soon? I still haven\u2019t recovered from metzen leaving (literally that was a heavy hit, the warchief abandoned us). What is next? Maybe Jeff Kaplan leaving to start his own fast food line. Afrasiabi retiring to farm his own tobacco?

Commento di shinyder15

on 2018-04-20T12:40:43-05:00

I'm not much of a hearthstone player but always enjoyed watching Ben Brode's videos, he was always so passionate about the game, he will be missed.

Commento di Caaethil

on 2018-04-20T12:49:59-05:00

See? WoW is a sinking ship- $%^&, wrong game.\r\rBest of luck to Ben, sucks since I loved watching him at Blizzcon.\r\rAlso, Q&A Testing? :P

Commento di Lilak

on 2018-04-20T12:51:03-05:00

I still haven\u2019t recovered from metzen leaving (literally that was a heavy hit, the warchief abandoned us). \r\rNot abandoned. He is still the voice of Thrall and others.

Commento di Voodik

on 2018-04-20T12:58:14-05:00

good, no more stupid hahahaahahaha whom him in da videos

Commento di lankybrit

on 2018-04-20T13:09:46-05:00

Wow. Thanks for what you did for Hearthstone Ben.

Commento di fathom81

on 2018-04-20T13:25:30-05:00

So...most old school and familiar faces have left by now...sinking ship?;

Commento di Oswaldovzki

on 2018-04-20T13:25:57-05:00

oh no! :(

Commento di Gronker

on 2018-04-20T13:35:30-05:00

Please fix this error in the article: It's QA Testing, not Q&A Testing.